The Sessoms Family of Hertford and Bertie Counties, NC
Next-door Neighbors to the Jones/Moore family for over 200 years
William Harrell Sessoms 1771 – 1844 | his parents
& ca 1800 Elizabeth VanPelt 1781 – 1826 | her parents
of Hertford County, North Carolina
This is my working hypothesis – the way I see it as of this moment!!
William Sessoms 8 April 1771 – 8 April 1844 (Bws) the son of John and Ann Sessoms was born at the family home at White Plains in what is now Hertford County, North Carolina.
He married Elizabeth Van Pelt 22 March 1781 – 6 May 1826 daughter of James and MaryVanPelt.
Bertie Co 1820 census William Sessoms 0 2 1 0 0 1 – 0 0 1 1 0
Children of William Sessoms and Elizabeth VanPelt:
1. Elizabeth Sessoms est 1802 –
married David Tayloe He died bef. 11 Nov 1822 when William Sessoms was appointed administer of David’s estate.
2. William Wynn Sessoms 27 April 1804 Bws – 25 May 1872 Bws
married 5 Jan 1825 Bws Mrs. Sallie Askew 3 June 1797 Bws – 28 May 1861 Bws
3. Dr. Harrell Bell Sessoms ca 1806 – 10 July 1838 Bws
married 3 July 1827 Harriet Eason – died 1839
dau. of Joseph Eason, decd.
4. (Squire Pelt) Daniel VanPelt Sessoms 9 May 1809 – 4 Oct 1888 ts
married ca 1834 Eliza Tayloe 1814 – 25 Jan 1839 age 25 yrs ts
married 17 Dec 1839 Elisa Elizabeth Sessoms 7 Jan 1819 – 16 Feb 1904 ts
(his 1st cousin) dau of Samuel H Sessoms and Mary Outlaw
5. Celia Ann Sessoms 10 Nov 1810 – 15 Oct 1826 age 15 yrs 11 mo 5 days Bw
6. Nancy Sessoms est 1816 – 15 Aug 1838 Bws
married William Shaw 16 Mar 1806 – 16 Dec 1862
son of John Shaw and Celia his wife
William Wynn Sessoms 1804 – 1872 | his parents
& 1825 Sallie Askew 1797 – 1861 | her parents
& ca 1818 David Askew Jr 1775/93 – ca 1823 | his parents
of Pine Tree Store, Hertford Co NC
William Wynn Sessoms 27 April 1804 Bws – 25 May 1872 Bws
married 5 Jan 1825 Bws Mrs. Sallie Askew 3 June 1797 Bws – 28 May 1861 Bws
dau of John Askew and Mary Outlaw; widow of David Askew Jr.
William Wynn Sessoms Home/ Robinson place
photos by James Moore ca 1970
I remember Johnnie Robinson removed the cemetery stones and plowed over the graves that were located near this house ca 1950. My father said that was the old Van Pelt Cemetery.
W W Sessoms was bequeathed “the land I (William Sessoms) bought of John Hunter.”
- Mary Elizabeth Sessoms 24 Nov 1825 Bws – 15 April 1879 Bws
married Joseph J. Perry 25 Dec 1817 – 9 May 1882 Bws
son of Freeman and Martha [Simons] Perry
The Perry Place and Cemetery/Dell Holloman’s
This house located between the W.W. Sessoms house and the Leigh Sessoms house, although recently bulldozed, was very similar to the James Ward home I am always told. The cemetery minus its wrought iron fence is still apparent with some stones tumbled into the graves. Could this have been the home of Josiah Perry 1740-1820 and his wife Amilicent Freeman? It was the home of Freeman Perry ca 1781 and his wife Patty Simons. Also, it was the home of Joseph J. Perry 1817-1882 and his wife Mary E. Sessoms 1825-1879 and his widow Emily D Lewis Perry.
Then Daniel Van Pelt Sessoms 1844-1915 and his wife Martha S Perry 1851-1912.
The family sold this property to A D [Dell] Holloman [son of Efferson D Holloman who was brother of Rocherous Holloman, sons of Whitmell Holloman per Jimmy Holloman].
a. Joseph William Perry 3 March 1845 Bertie Co NC – 19 June 1913 Norfolk VA
rem. to Norfolk, VA 1877 – his company
-one of the largest cotton commision business
bought the Kenneth Rayner farm on the Chowan river
married April 1872 Mary Harrell Jernigan
– she grad. 1867 Chowan College
dau of Lemuel R Jernigan d 8 Dec 1866 at Barfields
1. Lemuel Jerigan Perry died age seven
2. Maude Stafford Perry
married before 1913 Gilbert Hinton
3. Mary Lemuel [May] Perry
b. Henry T Perry 18 May 1847 – rem. to Indiana
c. Laura E. Perry 20 June 1849 –
married J. Washington Mitchell of Bertie Co
d. Martha S. Perry 17 July 1851 – 16 June 1912 Bws
married Daniel VanPelt Sessoms 4 Mar 1844 – 20 June 1915 Bws
[neighbor and cousin – see above]
e. Ernest Perry 5 Sept 1867 – 16 June 1916 dsp
Joseph J. [JJ] Perry 1817 – 1882
married 2nd 10 Dec 1879 Emily D. Lewis 1847 – 15 Jan 1927 Bws
daughter of his 1st wife’s half sister Lavenia
f. Josie Perry 10 May 1882 – 1 May 1905
2. Margaret B Sessoms 22 March 1828 – 16 Jan 1833 Bw
3. Celia Ann Sessoms 27 Feb 1831 Bws – 1892
married 19 Sept 1848 William John Simons 27 Aug 1824 – aft 1880
County Sheriff – lived at Pinetree at “Magnolia Grove”
(the house we knew as the Bud Mitchell place as kids)
a. Margret [Mariah] A. Simons ca 1849 –
married 20 Dec 1868 [1865] Bws Henry J. Godwin
married Hudgins
1. Annie Hudgins ca 1874 –
b. William J. Simons ca 1852 –
c. Thomas E Simons ca 1854 –
married A. E. ca 1859 –
1. LeRoy Simons 1897 – 18 May 1945
had Agnes, Roy, and Maude all of Ahoskie
iv. Mollie Jane Simons ca 1856 –
married 6 Dec 1868 John C. Britton
1. Carrie Britton
2. Cleo Britton
3. Herbert K. Britton
v. Laura Estella Simons Nov1858 –
married Mr. Deans died bef 1900
1. John S Deans May 1883 – of Ahoskie
vi. Sallie M Simons Sept 1864 –
married ca 1886 Norman T Freeman March 1858 –
1. Nettie M Freeman
2. Mary Freeman
married L. D. Perry of Colerain
vii. Walter Simons ca 1869 –
Sallie had by her 1st husband David Askew Jr
a. Lavenia Askew ca 1822 –
married Edward D Lewis ca 1813 – bef 1860
i. Sallie D Lewis ca 1840 –
married John H Jernigan
ii. Emma D[Emily F] Lewis ca 1846 – 15 Jan 1927
married Joseph J Perry 1817 – 1882
b. Emily Askew ca 1820 –
married Thomas D Jenkins of Potecasi ca 1816 –
Bws = Bible of William Sessoms
ts= tombstone in the William Sessoms Cemetery
dsp = died single person or never married
Dr. Harrell Bell Sessoms ca 1806 – 1838 | his parents
& 1827 Harriet Eason ca 1810 – 1839 | her parents
of Bertie/Hertford Co NC
Dr. Harrell Bell Sessoms ca 1806 – 10 July 1838 Bws
married 3 July 1827 Harriet Eason – died 1839
dau. of Joseph Eason, decd.
This Dr. Harrell Sessoms had a home that was located between the Leigh Sessoms house and present day Moore’s Lane.
William Sessoms called this land the Wynn tract in his 1844 will.
Dr. Sessoms died young and his son and daughter were raised by Van Pelt Sessoms. That house burned.
Harold Sessoms 1909 – 1974 of Ahoskie told James Moore that his name was a corruption of the original Harrell and that you could see the wells out in the field when he was a boy.
- Dr. Joseph William Sessoms 28 July 1828 – 1 June 1906 ts
educated at Wake Forest and UP 1852 Surgeon CSA
married 15 Nov 1855 Anna Matilda (Nannie) Underwood – Courthouse of Surry Co, VA 11 Dec 1833 Williamsburg VA – 21 June 1875 NC ts
daughter of William Pleasants Underwood and 1832 Eliza Virginia Cabaness
granddaughter of Thomas Underwood and Elizabeth Southall
and James Cabiness and Anna Matilda Henings
[the Episcopal minister from Windsor conducted her burial service]
Dr. J. W/Leigh Sessoms Home was called Sunnyside Acres
constructed 1855/57 by a black carpenter
photos by James Moore ca 1970
Dr. Sessoms furnishes his new home 19 May, 1857
i. William Harrell Sessoms 17 Nov 1856 – May 1922 Colerain
farmer and rural letter carrier
William and wife are both buried in the Methodist Church Yard in Colerain NC
married 17 Nov 1883 [Bettie Fannie] Elizabeth Frances Burt
7 Jan 1862 Surry Co VA – Aug 1941
daughter of John Burt and wife Emily Porter
buried at Methodist Church in Colerain
1 William [Willie] Harrell Sessoms Jr 23 Aug 1884 VA – 15 Oct 1959 Portsmouth VA
married 1906 Maude [Emily] Gurley Northcott 1886 – 24 Aug 1945
a. Virginia Garland Sessoms 17 June 1907 – 5 May 1984 Chesapeake VA
married ca 1926 William Todd Parker 17 July 1905 VA – 8 Feb 1970 Portsmouth VA
son of John Henry Braxton Parker 1866-1948 and Lottie Jane Jenkins 1887 – 1965
b. Doris E. Sessoms ca 1910 –
2. Roselyn SessomsBessie Earle Sessoms 6 April 1887 VA – 26 Oct 1967
married 1 Aug 1906 John H Allen
3. Carl Burt Sessoms 4 Dec 1890 NC- 29 Aug 1961
married 25 Aug 1925 Hazel Wickings Montague 31 Oct 1889 – 11 Jan 1982
a. Hazel Montague Sessoms 15 Aug 1928 Norfolk VA – 7 Dec 2010 Colerain NC
married ca 1953 William Fowler
Hazel Montague Sessoms Fowler
Hazel Montague Sessoms Fowler, 82, passed away peacefully at her home Tuesday night, Dec. 7, 2010. She is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, William, of Colerain; son, William Jr. and wife, Shelley, of Greenville; daughter, Carla Gibbons and her husband, Bruce, of Apex; grandchildren, Emily Fowler and Claire Fowler of Greenville, Bryan Gibbons and Rachel Gibbons of Apex; and first cousin, Merle Montague of Windsor.
The daughter of Carl Burt Sessoms and Hazel Montague Sessoms of Colerain, Mrs. Fowler was born in Norfolk, Va., August 15, 1928. She attended Colerain High School where she was valedictorian of her graduating class in 1945. She was presented to N.C. Society at the 1947 Debutante Ball. A graduate of Woman’s College in Greensboro (UNC ‚Äì G) with a B.A. in primary education in 1949, she taught second grade at Myrtle Underwood Elementary for two years in Raleigh. She also taught two years in Harrellsville.
Mrs. Fowler was devoted to her husband and family and active in Colerain United Methodist Church and in her community. An organist for 62 years and soprano soloist at the church and throughout the community, Mrs. Fowler enjoyed sharing her gift of music. She was a Sunday school teacher for the adult class, past president of the Women’s Society of Christian Service (United Methodist Women) at her church, Director of Colerain Beach, Inc., and past president of the local Women’s Club. Mrs. Fowler was the operator of the family farm in Colerain.
Visitation was at the Garrett-Jones Funeral Home, 205 NC Hwy 42 W., Ahoskie on Friday night from 7 to 8:30 and other times at the home. The funeral service will be held today at 11 a.m. at Colerain United Methodist Church, 209 W. Academy St. Burial to follow at Hillcrest Cemetery in Colerain. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to: Colerain United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 295 Colerain, NC 27924, Colerain Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 397, Colerain, NC 27924, or Colerain Fire Department, P.O. Box 247, Colerain, NC 27924.
Published in The Daily Reflector from December 10 to December 11, 2010
- Stanley Burt Sessoms 5 May 1895 NC – 10 July 1947 buried Raeford NC
married 4 June 1932 Maude Coble McLean 29 June 1901 – 12 Sept 1973
a. Jean McLean Sessoms 24 May 1935 - Joeseph [Joe] William Sessoms 3 June 1897 NC – 25 Dec 1944
married NY, July 1922 Carolyn (Carrie) Frances Hunter ca 1901 Jamaica LI – June 1923 Roanoke VA
a. Robert Hunter Sessoms 22 June 1923 – 13Mar 1987
married Annie Beatrice Myrick Washam
(the Washam is her adoptive name)
i. Marylou Sessoms Sweat
married 2nd Maude England
b. Rosemary Sessoms
c. Betty Jo Sessoms - Robert Edward [Doc] Sessoms 27 Feb 1901 Colerain NC – 12 April 1985 of Roanoke, VA
married 17 Aug 1926 Emma Montague Hickok 2 Jan 1906 VA – 5 June 1979
a. Robert Edward Sessoms Jr 9 July1927 – 16 May 1929
b. William Montague Sessoms 1932 –
c. Richard Burt Sessoms 1934 –
ii. Virginia Cabiness [Sissie] Sessoms 6 Jan 1859 – 13 Aug 1889 age thirty
baptized 28 March 1869 Grace Church Woodville NC
married 20 Dec 1877 Edward Everett Etheridge of Colerain
15 Jan 1856 – 5 Oct 19 at the residence of her father in Bertie Co
by Rev. Edward Wooten
Farming – this family were communicants at St. Thomas in Windsor
1. Mary Underwood Etheridge 1 Oct 1878 -1914
bapt 9 April 1882 Grace Ch Woodville NC
married C. J. Rha
2. Pearl Marmaduke Etheridge June 1880 – 1904
bapt 9 April 1882
married Stephen W. Kenny
3. Edward E. (Ned) Etheridge 1881 -1922
4. Joseph H. Etheridge
5. Eva Etheridge [called at Maple Lawn in 1969 after my father’s death]
she told us how when she used to visit at the Dr. Sessom’s place and how they always came over to Maple Lawn because “the Moore place was a showplace”
6. Ethyl Etheridge
Ed married 2nd Etta Savage 23 Oct 1866 – 27 Jan 1931
iii. Harriett Eason Sessoms 13 June 1860- “Lettie”
married W. B. Gillam
1. W. B. Gillam Jr.
married 2nd Samuel Aumack Jr. of Pitch Landing, NC
no issue
iv. Joeseph Henry Sessoms 27 April 1864 –
married Musa Cain of Portsmouth, VA
1. Josie Morris Sessoms
2. Musa Sessoms
3. J. C. Sessoms
v. Claudia Meredith Sessoms 7 Nov 1866-
married George T. Blandford
1. George T Blandford died as young man
a. George T Blandford III 1921 – res. Tampa, FA
married Nancy Jane Holland
2. Paul Blandford
3. Claude Blandford
4. Musa Blandford
5. Irvin Blandford
vi. Nannie Underwood Sessoms 8 Feb 1872 – aft 1960
“Birdie” [degree from Chowan 1887]
married William Edward Evans
1. William Carlton Evans
married Elizabeth Palin McMullen
2. Virginia Ruth Evans ca 1889 –
married 1st James Urquhart Norfleet 13 Mar 1889 – 20 Oct 1957 Miami
buried at Woodville
son of Reginald Norfleet and wife Mary
married 2nd Glenn Harold Staysa
3. Edward Earl Evans
married Nathalie Elois Gramman
vii. Leigh Richmond Sessoms 5 Jan 1875 – ca 1960
His black “mammy” was “Aunt” Harriet Cherry, who raised him from an infant
in 1900 Leigh R Sessoms is a private in the US Army
married Pamela [Permelia] Tynes (Tiny) Holloman 4 July 1891 – ca 1965
dau of Kindred Magruda Hollomon & Temperance Tynes – grew up at Stoney Creek in the house where the McKeels later lived [old Outlaw home]
1. Harold Richmond Sessoms 12 Feb 1909 -18 Jan 1974
merchant, Ahoskie
married Elizabeth Cross
a. Nancy Sessoms
2. Joseph William Sessoms 1913 –
3. Madeline L. Sessoms 1916 – Gardner, NC
married Alton Littleton Ward
4. Claudia Meredith Sessoms 1919 –
married Mr. Picklesimer
5. Anna Sessoms ca 1925 –
married Sam Hudson
1963 Leigh Sessoms Hudson age 10
- Pattie Cotten Sessoms ca 1931 – 17 Nov 2002
married Mr. Gantt
the lines of Patti C and Anna [Sessoms – Hollomon]
2. Martha “Pattie” Cherry Sessoms 27 June 1836 – 10 June 1889 ts
Martha was attending Chowan with Ann Ward in 1850 [census]
she was bapt 16 March 1862 at Grace Church Woodville NC
married 18 Oct 1853 Lewis Cotten 1820 – 1882 as his 2nd wife
i. Margaret Agnes (Maggie) Cotten 26 Sept 1854 – 17 Dec 1917
married Mirabeau L. Wood 14 April 1854 – 1 April 1917
and had family
both buried at the old Jesse Cotten homestead in Bertie Co.
ii. Harriet Martha (Hattie) Cotten 27 Feb 1860 – 24 Jan 1940
married Charles Skinner 8 Feb 1851 – 19 Sept 1908
of Perquimans, NC and had family
both buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery, Pitt County, NC
(Squire Pelt) Daniel VanPelt Sessoms 9 May 1809 – 4 Oct 1888 ts
married ca 1834 Eliza Tayloe 1814 – 25 Jan 1839 age 25 yrs ts
married 17 Dec 1839 Elisa Elizabeth Sessoms 7 Jan 1819 – 16 Feb 1904 ts
(his 1st cousin) dau of Samuel H Sessoms and Mary Outlaw
Nancy Sessoms 18xx – 15 Aug 1838 Bws | her parents
married William Shaw 16 Mar 1806 – 16 Dec 1862 | his parents
son of John Shaw and Celia his wife
a. Sarah E Shaw 8 Dec 1833 – 5 Oct 18? [before 1850?]
b. James D Shaw 28 Sept 1835 – 3 April 1871 B of William Shaw
(named in grandfather’s will) under 21 in 1844
(James D Shaw witnessed 27 Feb 1871 the will of Martha S Pruden; was ded’d by 24 Feb 1872 when will was proved Hertford Co.)
married May A ca 1838 –
i. T G Shaw [m] ca 1859 –
c. William D Shaw (named in grandfather’s 1844 will)
William Shaw married 2nd 9 Dec 1841 Matilda Jordan 16 Dec 1815 – 27 Oct 1857
dau of Pleasant Jordan
i. William Pleasant Shaw 13 Oct 1842 – 27 Nov 1913 ts CSA
married 1869/72 Mary R Askew 9 July 1846 – 14 Sept 1923
ii. Mary E Shaw 6 Feb 1845 – 30 Jan 1852 7th yr of her age
iii. Emily F Shaw 24 Oct 1847 – 4 Feb 1852 5th yr of her age
iv. Sallie Matilda Shaw 4 Oct 1850 – 23 Aug 1862
v. John S Shaw 13 April 1854 –
1800 Census Beaufort Dist
John Shaw 1 1 2 1 0 f 2 0 0 1 0 0 0
1810 Census Bertie Co NC
John Shaw 2 1 0 2 0 f 1 1 0 2 0
1820 Census Bertie Co
John Shaw 0 1 0 1 0 1 f 0 2 1 1 1
Elizabeth Sessoms est. 1802 – | her parents
married David Tayloe ca 1800 – 1822 | his parents
a. William Henry Tayloe 10 Nov 1821 – 14 Sept 1894 1st cousin
appointed guardian to James D Shaw in grandfather’s will
married Ophelia Frances Sessoms 5 Jan 1826 – 3 July 1889
Some stories about the Sessoms:
Joseph William Sessoms attended Wake Forest College and graduated with a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Returning to North Carolina, he took over his father’s old farm and built a two-room house which served as his office and residence. Following his marriage to Anna Matilda Underwood of Surry, Virginia, it became necessary to build a suitable home, and the result was the present building. The entire structure was built by one old Negro carpenter from 1855 to 1857 and had five rooms. All of the outbuildings except for the log potato house have survived to the present day (1970) and include the smokehouse, kitchen, corn barn, stables, buggy shed and doctor’s office (now the kitchen-dining room of the main house). It is said that the beautiful crape myrtles, cedars and elms now in the yard were part of a wagon load of shrubbery sent to Anna Matilda by her mother after she had moved in.
During the Civil War, Doctor Sessoms served in the Confederate army as a surgeon and was in the Fourth N.C. Cavalry under Col. D.D. Ferebee.
His young wife was forced to stay home with only her small children for company.
On one occasion when the Yankees were advancing into the neighborhood, she hid the family silver over the front door and decided to run to the nearby home of Van Pelt Sessoms for safety. Bundling her infant son Joe, who was three months old, inside plenty of covering, she took her toddler by the hand and set out through the woods.
On the way there she had to cross a stream on a foot log. Unfortunately, she dropped the baby into the water. However, she had the presence of mind to run up the hill and get help. Van Pelt was the first to reach the scene of the accident and had no difficulty in extricating little Joe, who instead of sinking had floated downstream into a thick growth of rushes like Baby Moses.
When Mrs. Sessoms returned home, she found that the Union soldiers had taken all of the meat and her husband’s wine. In addition, they had confiscated her two mules and the family milk cow and calf.
Harold Sessoms related the above to James E. Moore.
Pinetree Community
Some of the Sources: Interviews with Harold Sessoms ca 1970 by James Moore and notes from other documents in his possession. Conversations with other members of the family including Mrs. Lucie Carter. Various census records. Press Sessoms’s biographical sketch of the family ca 1925. The Sessoms cemetery, and the Perry cemetery and other. The Bible[1802] records of William Sessoms handed down to D.V. Sessoms. Various wills of Bertie Co., particularly those of Millecent Perry, Wm Freeman and his wife Celia Freeman.
Sessoms Family of Hertford and Bertie Counties, NC
This is so amazing. I am the granddaughter of (Robert hunter sessoms & Annie Beatrice Myrick Washam ) I am trying to find out about a church that has the name sessoms in the window perhaps? My husband and daughter are going to be taking a trip to Roanoke,va at the end of july and I just found out that my grandfather was from there. I would love for my husband to visit this church if it exist. Do you have any knowledge of this? My mother’s name is Jo sessoms stephens d.o.b 06/14/54
my name is Tori lynn Jordan d.o.b 08/21/78